In Progress
by Blessed Unrest
Summary: Slight AU: The beauty of being a wizard was accepting the fact that half the time you didn't know what you were doing. Caution was thrown into the wind while instinct became first nature. Chapter 3: Gray find himself in a predicament
1. Lucy Heartfilia 2300 July 6th

**Disclaimer**: I own none of Hiro Mashima's characters. If I did, there would be some massive nosebleeds.

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><p><em>Run<em>.

She jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the blackest of midnights, escaping the tendrils of shadows behind her. Desperately, her hand clenched around a golden key; she hoped she would remember the incantation.

Her feet spread out wide and far, finally jumping past the last hurdle and landing quietly in front of an abandoned water tower.

_Faster._

Like a mouse being chased by a mad feline, she scrambled up the rusted ladder, silently praying that the contraption would hold her weight. Reaching the top almost brought her from her frenzy, the moon momentarily distracting her with its burnt hues. She didn't have much time left. Wrenching the hatch open, she peered into the depths reflecting the moon's unnatural sheen. She drew her hands towards her side, coiled her legs and jumped in.

_Call me._

In the flurry of bubbles, her right arm slowly withdrew from her pocket and traced an arc. _Open, the gate of the water bearer_. Her eyes shot open, shining light into the abyss. _Aquarius!_

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: Just testing the fanfiction waters. This story may contain other FT characters in the future. Also, don't expect updates regularly.


	2. Natsu Dragneel 2300 July 6th

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

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><p>When he woke up…he regretted opening his eyes in the first place. His arms and legs were shackled to a chair with heavy chains, and before him was a sea of people dressed in pristine white robes, towering over him like a typhoon during its prime season.<p>

It was suffocating. He missed the open skies of his childhood, a stark contrast to the bleak windowless prison he was trapped in.

Ignoring the twinge of fear in the back of his mind, he smoothed over his scaled wristband in comfort while a torrent of memories washed over him.

A man with a sharp jawline with hair as red as the newly made bricks from the village's kiln. Rough hands that slicked back his unruly pink hair every morning despite his pleas to "stop it, dad, I ain't a kid anymore!" And eyes that burned a smoldering auburn, especially when he was caught smuggling pocketfuls of cinnamon candy from the nearby confectionary.

_Thunk. Thunk_. _Thunk._ The judge's resounding anvil clashed against the murmurs of the jury. What was he even doing here? He didn't do anything wrong. The jury eyed him with obvious distaste, as if…he were a monster.

_Monster! You don't belong here!_

He grimaced and adamantly shook his head, willing the undesirable nickname begone. With a sudden fierceness of a dragon, he snapped his head towards the arbiter and growled the very few words these people deserved.

"Are you bastards prepared to make an enemy out of Fairy Tail?!


	3. Gray Fullbuster 2000 July 1st

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters

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><p>It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. A preliminary test, if you will, to gauge their abilities after graduation.<p>

_"Do not, under any circumstance, enter the enemy's base. Just scan the premises, get the contact, get out. Anyone who disobeys these orders will be under future suspension." The scarlet-haired lieutenant had emphasized this with the utmost importance, and without a doubt he, along with many of the newly arrived corporals, thought of one reckless pink-haired idiot. _

Erza was going to murder him. And it wasn't even _his _fault. He was just an unfortunate accomplice by association.

He questioned his sanity for a moment, pondering why he was chosen to partner with the ticking time-bomb. Or rather _blackmailed_ into it.

_"If you don't help me with the next mission, I swear upon my father's memento that I will send Juvia those tape recordings of you sleep talking." _

To anyone else that would sound incredibly strange, but if anyone else knew Gray they would say several things. One: he undeniably loved his high school sweetheart, Juvia, but was far too private about it for the likes of his teasing comrades. Two: he had a penchant for stripping at the most inappropriate of times (he still had nightmares recalling the first time Erza sent him through the wall for disrobing in front of the ladies' restroom). Three: Juvia's affection was borderline stalkerish-she kept everything from the boxers he shed to the candy wrappers from their first date-and what Gray lacked in warmth she more than made up for with her coyingly sweet nicknames (the boys had spied on one of his monthly video chats). And last and foremost, Gray had the most erotic wet dreams with the filthiest bedroom moans that really shouldn't be heard by anyone within a five foot radius, probably a byproduct of sexual frustration in a testosterone dominant dorm.

It was by pure coincidence that his roommate came in during one of his... moments... and had decidedly recorded the whole affair for future questioning.

And thus Gray was stuck in his current predicament: no Natsu, no contact and the smitherines of what used to be their nemesis' hideout.

_Dear Mavis, we are so screwed._

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Thanks for the patience guys. Currently I've been bogged up with moving to a new apartment and starting a new school year. I promise, next chapter will definitely be longer! Also, I made a few updates to the previous chapter to clear up some confusions. And to anyone curious, yes, the characters will jump around a bit (I'm better at working backwards with the timeline) and the character/date/time (military time) I will be focusing on is announced in the title of each chapter


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